Health Insurance Premiums Have Been Increasing for Years

A recent study done by the Commonwealth Fund found that health insurance premiums have been increasing for years. The nonprofit group performed this study to determine what had been happening in the health insurance industry before the implementation of the Affordable Care Act changes. They wanted to show the public the whole picture so that people aren’t blaming all of the health insurance increases on Obamacare. This information comes from Maggie Fox’s NBC News article, “Health Insurance Premiums Have Been Increasing Since 2008.” They studied health insurance premiums in the private health insurance markets. Those are the individual and family health insurance plans that Americans find and pay for out of their own pocket, not through a group or employer. The study found that health insurance premiums have been steadily increasing since 2008.

Individual insurance premiums increased by at least 10% per year from 2008-2010. We are still waiting to see what the premium prices will be for 2015, but most experts agree that they will be higher than this year’s prices. The study results point out that premium increases really cannot solely be attributed to mandatory changes brought about by the Affordable Care Act because premium prices were rising 10% per year before the law took effect. Premiums almost have to increase because health insurance companies have to cover much more than they covered before the ACA took effect. Insurers can no longer deny coverage to people with preexisting conditions either, so it costs them much more money to offer insurance plans. They can’t exclude maternity coverage from plans or charge cancer patients more for their insurance policies, so premium prices across the board are likely to increase.

State and federal run health insurance exchanges started offering plans this year. Before these exchange plans were an option, an estimated 14 million people bought individual health insurance plans outside of the workplace. This is either because they don’t have a job or their employer doesn’t offer them health insurance coverage. Eight million people have bought insurance plans through the exchanges this year, according to the President’s administration. A Gallup poll found that the number of Americans without health insurance went from 18% in December to 13.4% in May. It’s going to take years before we know the true effect of the Affordable Care Act on the health insurance industry, especially because of the plans that have been allowed to continue offering sub-standard policies for two more years. It will just be important to keep in mind that health insurance plans were rising before the ACA as well. Increases in 2008, 2009 and 2010 were 9.9%, 10.8% and 11.7%, respectively.